Telcos under pressure to cut roaming fee in harmony deal
Telecommunication firms in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) face increased competition in their continental roaming charges as regulators seek to lower the costs of cross-border ICT services. FILE PHOTO | POOL
Telecommunication firms in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) face increased competition in their continental roaming charges as regulators seek to lower the costs of cross-border ICT services.
Comesa is pushing for the harmonisation of the roaming network with other regional blocs in at least 29 African countries by next year.
Roaming enables a mobile subscriber to automatically make and receive voice calls, send and receive data, or access other services when travelling outside the geographical coverage area of their home network, by means of using a visited network.
Telecom operators enter into agreements to connect one another’s customers across single or multiple geographies, with subscribers typically paying more when outside of their home markets.
“It supports the review and development of regional policy and regulatory frameworks in a harmonised manner, thus contributing to enhanced competition and improved access to cost-effective and secure ICT services,” Comesa said of the plan.
Stakeholders have noted that the major challenges inhibiting improved access to cost-effective ICT services are uneven and fragmented implementation of policy and regulatory frameworks across the continent to promote competitive markets among member states.
The Comesa plan will be achieved through the Enhancement of Governance and Enabling Environment in the Information Communication and Technology (EGEE-ICT) sector programme, an eight-million-euro initiative financed by the European Union.
The programme, which is spearheaded by Comesa, is meant to look at policy harmonisation and regulation in order to facilitate cross-border interconnections, strengthen pan-regional competition and competitive tariffs, and expedite the deployment of safe and reliable ICT services.
